Waiting
by nakala
Summary: "She needs him, and for now he's okay with that because eventually she'll want him. Let the waiting begin. " Sequel to Not Again please read that story first.
1. Chapter 1

Jane isn't ready for a relationship and that he can understand. In spite of what he now knows she feels for him, he understands that her heart needs to recover from the colossal blow Owen dealt it. Anyone would need time, but what he hadn't factored in was the continued distance Jane seemed to prefer. How could she ever get over Owen if she didn't try? She should know this. She was the person that encouraged him to let go of Deb, which after some time he finally did.

He promised he'd be waiting. Although he knew it might take her a while he didn't calculate a month. Maybe he did, but not a month with little to no contact with Jane whatsoever. They weren't doing lunch together or the occasional dinner as they'd done in the past before her and Owen. She didn't offer to help him on his cases and when he asked her for her expertise, she would decline with hollow words of praise directed towards him and his ability to litigate. He missed her. He misses her. He hates himself for ever succumbing to her advances because now the memory of her in his arms, her lips touching his haunts his nights and stalks his days.

Unlike the two weeks following their make out session he does see her just not much of her. Her workload has evened itself out a bit. She's still juggling an insane amount of cases, but not enough to keep her out of the office. What good is that doing him? Jane only greets him with guarded eyes in the morning and bids him an absentminded farewell at the end of her day. He hasn't been able to catch her for any length of time to allow him to check on her wellbeing, see how she's holding up, or not holding up, which could very well be the case. No matter, he is resolved to find out today.

He is camped out in his office waiting. His work has been finished for over an hour, but he sits waiting for Jane to return back from her current court case. Once, she does he's seizing the opportunity to corner her in her office. No, he doesn't intend to attempt to force her into opening up to him about what's going on with her or to make her confront the feelings she has for him. However, he does want to talk to her. Just talk. About anything. Ask her about her day, tell her about his. He just wants to talk to her. Because he's getting tired of talking to Terri to get updates on Jane. He's never really liked talking to Parker, but he's given that a go since he knows more about Jane than he does. He's even suffered Kim's narcissism. Don't get him wrong, he loves Kim; they dated for a while, of course he does, but she tends toward conversations of which she is the center. There is only so much of that he could tolerate. He's even had drinks with the firm's benefactor, Luke. Awkward. Very awkward. The one person he's wanted to see wanted to talk to hasn't been available. Therefore, he's switching his methods. Instead of waiting for her to come to him, fearing it may not happen in the nearest future, he is going to her.

The time marks three hours past the end of his work day when he sees her exiting the elevator. He hasn't seen her hair like this in a while, but thinks she should wear her hair with big bouncy curls more often. It just makes him want to run his fingers through what he knows is some of the softest hair he's ever touched. Unlike most days, her face isn't covered in makeup. If it is, it is the most natural look he's seen on her. She looks beautiful.

When she's halfway to her office she stops at Terri's desk. They talk for a little. Her face alights with the smile he has missed for so long, but his heart hurts when he looks at her eyes noticing it doesn't reach them. Terri hands her a couple of files and as soon as she's off to her office all remnants of her smiling face disappears. As they have been for the longest time now her blinds are closed, but that doesn't deter him.

He raps his knuckles on her door opening before she answers. "Hey Jane, I haven't…seen…" The words die on his lips. Jane is crying or she was. Her eyes are fire engine red and she's frantically swiping her eyes.

"Oh-Grayson, Hey." She chuckles smiling bright up at him.

"Uh, hey, Jane."

She shrugs off his redundant greeting. "How is it going? It's been a while, huh? I've been swamped. How about you?"

The smile she's wearing hurts his face. She should know she doesn't have to put on a fake face for him. "No, much of the same really. How are you, Jane?"

"I'm fine. Tired, but I'm – I'm doing great." She couldn't fight through the hitching of her voice.

He is keenly aware of the tears sparkling in her eyes. What's wrong? "When I came in you were crying, Jane, you're not okay. What's the matter?"

"Nothing, really, I just – something got in my eye," she forces out a nervous laugh, "I wasn't crying."

"I thought we were at a better place than this," he says softly, "I thought you knew you could talk to me." His woeful expression belies the mild anger in his voice.

He takes a seat on the couch by the window in her office. He doesn't glance in her direction neither does the woman sitting behind the desk glance in his. He's not leaving. It's not a cognitive decision; he just knows his limbs are locked. He's not moving.

When she joins him on the couch he doesn't turn to face her. After a few minutes, he feels her place her head on his shoulder. Shampoo and her overwhelming freesia aroma snakes into his nose. He's nearly lost in her scent when she pulls him back with the sound of her heavy laden voice.

"I saw him today."

He doesn't speak, but wraps his arm around her snuggling her to his side. He wants her to feel comfortable with him. He needs her to get past whatever it is that is keeping her from him.

Before long, tears are flowing from her eyes, and he can hear her sniffling.

"He looked unhappy. Not himself. I – he called me into his chambers during the jury deliberations. I thought it may have had something to do with the case…he cornered me. Beguiled me. Had I known maybe…but he gave me no choice." She moves close to him moving her head closer to his neck. He can fell her whispers feather across his skin. "I couldn't refute." Lifting her head, Jane looks at his face begging him to look back at her; he finally does after some time. "He apologized. Said he wanted to get back together." He pulls on every ounce of lawyer within him to keep his face expressionless. Did she go back to him? If she did, why is she so upset? "When I turned him down he accused me of never being in love with him and that I'd probably cheated on him with you. I would never. Not – that I don't – but…"

Tears are pouring from her eyes. He can see the frustration and hurt warring within her. "I understand. He should know you would never do that."

Jane gives him a teary smile and lays her head back on his shoulder. His heart lifts. He has his girl in his arms. She is finally talking to him, and she's not trying to get rid of him. Maybe after today they can work on building a relationship. Any kind of relationship because he hates not being around her, not talking to her, and he loathes not being able to touch her.

"Have you had dinner?"

She doesn't stir. "No."

"Do you want to go out for dinner, you pick?"

She shakes her head. "I'm not hungry." She pulls away from him catching his eye. "Can we just stay like this for a while?" She doesn't say why, but he can see the _need_ radiating towards him. She needs _him_, and for now he's okay with that because eventually she'll_ want_ him.

Let the waiting begin.


	2. Chapter 2

She's coming around. After that night in her office, she took a couple of days off. She didn't tell him; therefore, when she didn't show for work for two days, he assumed her workload was to blame. On the third day, however, he thought differently.

First, he thought something was wrong with her, maybe she was sick. Then, he thought that it was because of him and what happened in her office, maybe he pushed her too far. Tired of worrying without any concrete facts, he decided to question Terri; he wasn't sure Jane would be completely honest with him if not forced. Terri told him that Jane was taking a few personal days. After much prodding, well not too much because, well, it's Terri, he found out that her reasoning wasn't him. The thing with Owen had really gotten to her and she really needed some time to get herself together. Grayson agreed.

That night in her office he'd been submerged under the murky crushing waters of Jane's emotions. He saw a glimpse of how taxing things had become for her. A part of him didn't want to believe that Jane was so affected over Owen, but he would be lying to himself to say that the silent tears shed on his shoulder hadn't changed that. She had continued to cry unabashed for near an hour.

He'd only felt as terrible when Deb died leaving him to face life without his soul mate. When Vanessa left him a jilted groom, he had been upset and embarrassed, sad even, but he in no way was as torn up as Jane is over Owen. Even though he's seen it firsthand, it doesn't mean he understands it. Maybe she loved, possibly loves, Owen more than he gives her credit for and for that reason he didn't bother her. He gave her the space he is certain she needed; however, he didn't stop prodding Terri for information about her well-being everyday she was absent.

He assumes his persistence is the reason the secretary offered him the details concerning Jane the moment he exited the elevator this morning. Terri informed him that Jane would be returning to work today. She also told him that some of Jane's cases had been given to Kim, while she would be handling the rest. Because of the time she had taken off, she would be in the office catching up. She'd even mentioned offhandedly that today would be a good day for lunch with a coworker. The woman must think she's some kind of spy on a mission because he knows that was her way of covertly suggesting he get lunch for Jane. Not that he needed that advice. If Jane is going to be trapped in her office all day, he's going to take every opportunity afforded to spend time with her, no matter how minuscule.

For most of the morning, he takes glances at her office, but never finds any change that would indicate that Jane has come in. The blinds are still shutting the world out and her door remains closed. He contemplates continuing his mini stakeout as he's done in the past, but thinks better of the idea. His work is piling up, and he should probably finish some of his reports. If she doesn't show, he'll visit her. He's given her enough time to be by herself. He can't go another day without seeing her, but for now, he'll just do what he gets paid to do, which is work.

Immersing himself in his work, he takes no notice of the time. He doesn't notice when Jane slips into her office. Doesn't notice that the sun has set and night has fallen. Not until, he takes a long overdue stretch before wrapping things up for the night. Stepping from his office, he finally notices that the lights are off in the building, except maybe a few, more importantly Jane's.

An idea pops into his mind causing him to turn back into his office. Once inside, he dials the Thai restaurant from down the block that delivers, and orders dinner for he and Jane. He's pretty sure she hasn't left her office because he would have certainly noticed if she had. So, he's pretty sure she probably hasn't eaten; thus, she must be starving. Perfect opportunity.

The food arrives slower than his patience can handle.

He's so tired of waiting.

When the food finally arrives, he situates everything on a cart he finds in the break area. He wheels the food to Jane's door foregoing the standard knock, instead opting for the simultaneous knock and enter.

She doesn't look up at his appearance. He surmises that she didn't even hear him knocking she's so engrossed in her duties. Her blazer is tossed on the couch, papers are strewn over her desk, and she's plowing through her files with rapt attention. A loving smile prances onto his lips; her dedication is one of the many things that draw him to her.

"Dinner."

She's caught off guard by his cavalier announcement. "Uh, oh!" Jane jumps tossing her pen in the air, frazzled.

His lips turn up. She's so beautiful.

"Grayson!" She releases a stressed sigh, "You scared me." Taking in the sight before her, she pushes away from her desk and saunters over to him. With a coy smile she questions, "What is this?"

"Thai."

"Smells good. What is it doing on a cart-resourceful aren't we-in my office?" she questions with a sly grin.

Grayson reciprocates with a shy grin as he answers her. "I haven't seen you leave your office all day. I didn't even know you were here until I was about to leave. So, I thought I'd bring you dinner."

An unreadable expression crosses Jane's face as her eyes fix on him. It causes worry to stir within him. Maybe she isn't ready for this. Maybe now isn't the time for him to try to weasel his way into her life. He should have known. He's about to retract his offer of company leaving her to the Thai and her work. Before he opens his mouth, her lips spread into her toothy smile and she spins around to clean her desk.

Jane seeing only her hands clearing her desk turns around with her hands on her hips. "What are you waiting for? The sooner we get all of these papers squared away the sooner we can eat. I completely forgot to eat lunch today."

The smile that merges onto his face stuns the woman standing in front of him. He can't tell it, but her heart flutters and she's sure her mouth is hanging open in awe. To hide her disposition she spins around and continues cleaning the desk alone.

Shortly, Grayson joins her placing papers in folders and folders in boxes and moving them to the floor behind her desk.

While they work at tidying their space, her eyes evade his almost perceptively. When his eyes seek out hers, she instantly turns away. He swears there's a faint pink hue to her cheeks. Chuckling to himself, he reaches around Jane, just barely touching her, to drop a few files on the floor. Her posture stiffens as his hand grazes her hip. He shouldn't; he knows, but he can't help it. He's gotten so little from her for the past couple of weeks, in the way of how she feels for him, that he needs the reassurance that her reactions to him instills.

Once they finish, Jane sits in the chair behind her desk as Grayson sits across from her in full view of her beautiful face. She's definitely blushing.

They pass out the food; when their done, Jane immediately indulges in the Thai. "Mmm…Thank you so much. This is the best." She frowns. "That or I'm severely food deprived."

Grayson chortles. "Maybe a little because it's good, but I wouldn't say it's the best."

In that moment their eyes meet. The first time since he walked into the room. There's a wanton glimmer in his eyes that holds onto her timorously impassioned gaze. A heavy silence descends upon the room encapsulating the two. For a time it's only them and their ineffable connection. Though he's as calm as he's ever been, he can see her chest rise and fall with each rushed intake of breath. It's in her eyes, the fear. Foremost. Also the want. He thinks.

She averts her gaze first, snapping their connection, too afraid of the way Grayson seems to be looking right through her.

He lowers his head in defeat then glances up at the side of her face. He inwardly begs her to turn around to face him. He needs her to know that he will only go as fast as she wants. It takes some time, but she cautiously faces him with a weak impression of a smile pressed on her lips. Grayson gives her a comforting smile that tells her everything he doesn't want to say. She responds with a look of relief and turns her focus to her food.

He's not going to push her. It wouldn't be fair.

The duration of the meal is filled with perfectly timed fleeting looks at each other. Grayson doesn't want to overwhelm her with overt, ogling stares; so, he settles with quick desirous glimpses when she's not surreptitiously flashing her beautiful browns at him. It's a compromise, but he loves every minute of it. He loves that she's warming up to him, if only a little. He loves that he knows there's a part of her that feels for him just as he does for her.

Every container is empty when the silence is finally broken.

"Thanks again for…this…it was nice." Jane is unsure of what _this_ is or what it means. She is, however, grateful for his kindness, but she also hopes _this_ doesn't give him the wrong idea and kick things into high gear.

Grayson quirks his mouth into a crooked grin. He can tell Jane is uncomfortable and maybe a little nervous. So, he tries to alleviate her tension by getting the focus off of them. "Your cases, I thought you'd lightened your load, but you seem just as busy as before." Not a great job of diverting the attention from them because the only thing he can think of now is her taking the extra cases to avoid him. The look in Jane's eyes tells him she's thinking the same, but she trudges on.

She giggles to herself, "Yeah, I did cut back, but there were so many that I felt I couldn't entrust to Kim. They're my typical wish and a prayer mixed with a little ingenuity, so, I know she would have killed me or Parker had she been saddled with them."

Grayson shakes his head wearing a relaxed smile. "Kim would have ripped Parker a new one and tried to burn you at the stake." A sliver of laughter slips from him. "You know, Kim can never get the upper hand on you. That's probably why she hates you so much."

Jane beams at him and tosses her shiny black-brown hair over her left shoulder, despite her remembering his and Kim's brief affair. "It's because I'm so fabulous." She giggles eying Grayson from across the desk.

Yes you are; he can't help but think. However, he doesn't say anything except to nod his head once in agreement. Speaking his mind would only deprive him of the gorgeous smile displayed across Jane's tempting lips directed at him. At him.

Conversation remains neutral throughout the night. They talk about his cases, about Stacy's pake business. Grayson helps her peruse her case files and reports for evidence and anything that can help reduce her workload in the near future. He likes the thought of that. Maybe that would mean more time for him. He hopes because that's all he can do; she doesn't seem ready. They're talking and she's not crying, for once, running away, or avoiding him. It's all he can ask for. So, he doesn't press. She'll come around. She's already coming around.

All in due time.


End file.
